Routines and Schedules in Forest School

At first glance, forest school simply looks like children playing in the woods. And yes, forest school is indeed comprised of children playing in the woods. But it is much more than that!

Forest school has a structure, and while the structure is simple, it is profoundly important.

Forest school starts with gearing up. Whether children arrive ready to go outside first thing in the morning, or whether they gear up later in the day before heading out with the class, this is where learning begins. Knowing where their gear is, how to put it on, and how to work around others during this time adds up to either chaos or calm. It is part of learning independence and resilience.

Children experience light rain during a walk into the forest.

Every facilitator will need to decide what works best for their setting. For me, it was a priority to get my K-2 students independent as soon as possible. Our gear was stored in our classroom, in a corner, and traffic jams were inevitable unless we had a procedure clearly defined. I made a chart using both pictures and words:

"Getting Ready for Forest School"

1. Fill your water bottle.

2. Get your backpack (especially in winter, to keep gloves and scarves handy)

3. Put your shoes under your chair.

4. Go get your rain gear and boots (I taught them to take gear to their table to put on).

5. Wait quietly by your chair for others to get ready.

   
   

Older children sometimes helped younger ones, and I expected to help students at the beginning of the year. However, they learned! Most took a day or perhaps a week or two to master their gear. Others required many long weeks. Often, I assisted with a young or especially challenged child most of the year, but slowly they became more independent.

We pause at the beginning of forest school to notice and share nature's gifts that day.

Once everyone is ready, we line up outside our classroom door, where I spray everybody's ankles and upturned hands; they they apply this natural bug spray to their arms and necks.

We walk to our forest school area with the facilitator leading. This is, for us, is a very short walk: across the parking lot, over a little bridge, and into the woods. In time, I learned to make this a quiet walk, so they would be in the right frame of mind for forest school.

Now we are ready to start forest school. Everyone puts their backpacks and water bottles away (there is a designated spot for items so that gear does not end up all over the forest). We then sit in a circle, either under the trees or in our shelter, where we have our opening meeting.

We stop to notice our surroundings: "What is different?" I ask. "What do you notice?" We review a few safety guidelines. Then, we sing and then finish with prayer.

The opening meeting is important, and we will revisit the "why and how" of that in another place.

After the meeting, children disperse and play. They create their own groups, design their play scenarios and projects, and are free to roam about within our boundaries.

Adults stay in the background, following the action but hanging back a bit. We need to see and mostly hear students at all times. We do a headcount periodically, if the group is more than a handful of individuals. We observe their projects and watch for learning opportunities we may want to follow-up on later. Sometimes we get involved in in-the-moment, active learning. (More on emergent learning in another post.)

Adults step in when needed, which they often are. They use a light touch. When questioned, adults often reply with a question of their own, to help the child think through possible answers. Facilitating forest school is not difficult, but nor is it easy, at first. More on that later.

Children sometimes take a while to settle into productive play. Sometimes 30 or 40 minutes go by while children argue over materials or territories, what to play, and how to play. They may move restlessly around the forest, creating a feeling of chaos. And then, usually, it quiets down. Individuals and groups of children settle. Projects and play take full focus.

This "settling in", as well as having leisure to engage deeply in projects and to work out differences, is why the duration of a forest school session should be (including gearing up and meetings and at the beginning and end) at least 2 hours long, if possible.

When time is up, the facilitator gives some sort of signal. Children come together again, to debrief the day. This meeting perhaps includes the most important moments of the day. Here is where learning goes deep, where insights are made, and where we celebrate successes. Facilitating a debrief meeting deserves more attention than we can give it here, so we will revisit that topic at another time.

Each facilitator designs their debrief meeting a little differently, but it usually involves sharing. After several children have shared their experiences, and when some important events have been highlighted from the day, the meeting usually ends with a special song, thankfulness to the Creator, and a closing prayer.

Then we gather our gear, walk back indoors, put away gear, and the session is ended.

Since forest school ended for us just before dismissal, we often practiced our writing skills using a "sentence of the day" kind of format. Some facilitators include this in their ending meeting, recording news on a chart. Others have older children write independently in their journals. Some, of course, go straight into whatever is next on their classroom schedules.

There are plenty of options when designing a forest school program. Sit spots, cooking over a fire, exploratory walks in a forest or creek, etc. often emerge as an important or even daily part of forest school.

Some classes have all-day forest school which will look much different than I have described here. In an all-day forest school, you will have academic times built into your program outdoors, but child-directed play remains a priority: for a good chunk of time, children invent their own games and activities.

In a typical classroom setting, with forest school scheduled for only part of the day (as described in this post) you can, of course, have outdoor academic time. I often took my students outside for writers' workshop, Bible class, or math. We simply went outside for those subjects during our normally scheduled time and returned to the classroom afterward.

We do not "teach" during forest school time. Art or other additions are purely optional. Yes, it is tempting to have that struggling reader practice reading for a few minutes, but ultimately we must keep priorities where they belong. For forest school (or "nature play", as some call it), the only agenda for children is to BE CHILDREN.

Sometimes art or other activities are offered as an option, but with no pressure to participate. Pictured here is a child-invented, child-directed art project--the best kind!

The forest school routine, with an adult nearby to lightly guide the session, provides what children need to develop optimally, surrounded by nature. The simplicity of the schedule invites complex situations, which in turn provide for deep, life-long learning.

And that's the structure of forest school, simple but loaded with opportunities!

1. Gear up and walk out

2. Opening meeting sets the stage

3. Children play and work on projects of their own choosing

4. Closing meeting with debriefing opportunities

5. Return to the classroom and put away gear